Thin line between a TD and a FG...

[Ravens2006]

Ravens 1st down run from the 5. Notice how this play could have turned out very differently if Yanda can release a split second faster and gets his right shoulder across the LBs right shoulder first...

Set right before the snap...
Rush1.jpg

Yanda briefly chips the DT, then lets go and heads for 50... Oher has the NT occupied, more or less... If Yanda can cross 50's right shoulder and stuff him, he'll also shield the safety a little bit and give Rice a lane to (hopefully) run straight and hard through...
Rush2.jpg

Yanda doesn't get across the DT and loses leverage. The DT flashes to Rice that the hole isn't there, so he hesitates (not surprising these days) and tries to cut back inside. Imagine the lane if Yanda manages to seal off the LB just two feet to (your) left. If that happens, you have Rice running hard vs. a DB more or less flat-footed around the goal line. Not guaranteed, but I like the odds there.
Rush3.jpg

By this last shot, Rice has turned back in to traffic, Oher not exactly dominating his man either, and the play is dead... at least in terms of a TD...
Rush4.jpg

I think if Yanda just gets across the LB a fraction of a second sooner... Rice has a nice lane to sprint through for the goal line. This assumes Rice would have continued that way without slowing down, which is questionable these days too. :) Also notice how the much-maligned Gino (who screwed up the snap a couple plays later) schmeers his man and does exactly what you want on that play. Everybody seals the running lane except Marshal, and that kills the play.